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About

Two engineers from Rijeka, one purpose.

Gestura translates Croatian Sign Language (HZJ) in real time, on-device, so deaf and hearing Croatians can have everyday conversations without scheduling an interpreter.

Roughly 5,000 people in Croatia use HZJ as their primary language. They navigate doctor's visits, parent-teacher meetings, job interviews, and café orders through written notes, lip-reading, or scheduled human interpreters.

Hearing family, friends, social workers, and teachers want to communicate naturally, but learning HZJ takes years, and interpreters aren't available in unplanned moments. Existing tools sit behind enterprise video infrastructure or charge by the minute. None of them solve the face-to-face moment when a phone is the only tool both people share.

Phones already see hands. Their chips already run real models. The question was simple: can a modern phone, looking through its own camera, do useful HZJ translation in real time, on-device, without sending video anywhere? After two years of stubborn iteration the answer is yes, at conversation speed, in everyday rooms.

What we hold to

Four rules every surface must pass.

  • Show the hands.

    Sign language is physical. Every key moment connects back to hands, gestures, movement. Abstract icons and stock illustrations undermine credibility.

  • Invisible technology.

    The ML, the landmarks, the neural engine are means, not ends. We foreground the human outcome (understanding, connection) over the technical mechanism.

  • Earned playfulness.

    Streaks, coins, and Sign of the Day should feel rewarding, not patronising. Every playful touch must serve retention or comprehension, no cartoon mascots.

  • Respect the community.

    Gestura is built with deaf collaborators. No 'overcoming disability' framing, no savior narratives. Built with the community, not for it.

The team

Two engineers, shipping product.

Croatian engineers based around the AI Lab at RITEH, Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka.

  • Karlo Jakopović

    Karlo Jakopović

    Co-founder · Mid Backend engineer
    COMI

    Backend services & data layer.

  • Marin Mikulec

    Marin Mikulec

    Co-founder · Mobile engineer
    ASEE

    Native iOS, Android, React Native.

AffiliatedAI Lab, RITEH · University of RijekaUdruga gluhih i nagluhih u RijeciRiHub startup incubator
Roadmap

Beta in 2026, Europe by 2029.

Croatia year one. Each new geography ships as a new sign-language pack in the same app: DGS for Germany, BSL for the UK, LSF for France.

  1. 01
    Jul 2026

    Beta launch, free HZJ alphabet and basic phrases.

  2. 02
    Jul 2027

    Paid product in Croatia. Full HZJ coverage. 2,000 users.

  3. 03
    Jul 2028

    Germany. DGS (Deutsche Gebärdensprache) pack.

  4. 04
    Jul 2029

    UK + France. BSL and LSF packs ship.

In the press

Covered by Croatian national press.

Get the beta

Be one of the people who shapes what ships.

Or drop us a line at info@getgestura.com. A human in Rijeka replies within a day.

Join the beta